At my most relaxed, a thought crossed my mind: does that uncouth lout of mine know the reason we broke up? Did Empress Dowager Liu tell him?
But she didn’t want to discuss such matters just then.
Her head rested against his chest, their fingers interlaced, a profound sense of contentnt flowing through her. Feeling languid, she said, "Brother Donglin, should we go and have so fun?"
"..."
"There are still twenty-sothing days left before school starts. That’s a long ti."
"Didn’t you say you wanted to get familiar with the environnt first?"
"About that..."
Hadn’t she only decided to go early out of pique? Besides, she’d always longed to travel. She hadn’t dared to go alone before, but now, with the two of them, wouldn’t it be perfect?
She was extrely enthusiastic. "Why don’t we visit Yellowstone Park? No, wait, not Yellowstone Park first. We have ti now, so let’s go to Europe..."
"..."
"I want to see beautiful landscapes everywhere..."
"Only unsophisticated people like to go to those places."
She was unfazed. "Well, I am unsophisticated. I only know about these places... once I’m more familiar with things, I’ll discover the truly great places..."
"..."
Still in high spirits, she continued, "I want to stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence or Milan... I want to eat authentic foie gras, matsutake, steak, and so on... Right, I did so research before I left. So many luxury brands have stores there! Staying centrally is most convenient. Shopping and strolling around are very easy..."
Her eyes sparkled as she envisioned that dream world many won yearned for... top-of-the-line fashionable clothes, handbags, all kinds of jewelry, all kinds of high-end Western cuisine, as well as picturesque foreign landscapes...
He, on the other hand, rely coughed dryly. AHEM. AHEM.
She asked curiously, "Brother Donglin, why do you keep coughing?"
He finally couldn’t bear it any longer. "Miss, do you rember how you answered when I asked you to go to Europe last ti?"
"..."
He kindly reminded her, "Miss, you adamantly stated back then that a student’s primary duty is to study hard, not to seek enjoynt. You also said that studying at Harvard would cost a lot, with high expenses, so you couldn’t afford to be extravagant. You have to be frugal, understand? Miss, you yourself said you wanted to be frugal. If I were to disrupt your plan, wouldn’t I be committing a heinous cri?"
"!!!"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a peck on the lips.
He bluntly said, "Your charms won’t work. I am urging you to be frugal."
She laughed it off. "That’s odd. I’ve never deviated from my goal of being frugal, have I? If we go out, you’ll be the one paying, of course. Since I won’t be spending a single cent, why should it bother ?"
"..."
"Don’t worry, you big lout, I’ll definitely be frugal—as long as you’re the one footing the bill."
He fud, "And why should I be the one paying?"
She sounded even more curious than him. "Because your own mother said it: ’Husbands are supposed to pay the bills.’ If you have an issue with that, go ask her."
"..."
She said excitedly, "Alright then, it’s settled! We’ll drop our luggage in Dun City and set off imdiately. I have loads of plans and travel guides; I’ll organize them for you when we arrive..."
Wan Donglin was completely speechless.
Is this how a frugal, diligent student should behave? Is this what soone who swore to be self-reliant, to build her own strength, and to cultivate inner fortitude should be doing???
Her integrity? What happened to the integrity she promised? Good heavens, must her principles shatter into pieces like this?
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